Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan extended the city’s eviction moratorium for the third time on Friday, giving residential and commercial renters a reprieve on payments through December.
Seattle’s first moratorium was passed in March, originally set to last through May 15. Then it was extended through June 4, then again through August 1.
In July, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee extended the state’s eviction moratorium through October 15.
Earlier this month, the Washington State Department of Commerce distributed about $100 million in state funding via the CARES Act, through its network of homeless services grantees and organizations serving homeless youth to operate a new rent assistance program.
This program is set to focus on preventing evictions and paying up to three months of past due, current and future rent to landlords who are eligible. This program ends on Dec. 31.
These funds will go to tenants who earn less than 50% of the area median income, have missed at least one rental payment since March and match other indicators of housing insecurity, the Seattle Times said.
“Funds addressing Washington’s homelessness crisis were limited before the pandemic, and the need is deepening as this pandemic continues to push more people toward the brink while we work to carefully reopen our economy,” said Commerce Director Lisa Brown in a statement. “We are targeting limited resources as quickly and equitably as possible, to those with the greatest needs.”
Nationwide, just 79.3% of apartment households made a full or partial rent payment by Aug. 6, according to the National Multifamily Housing Council’s Rent Payment Tracker.
